


✩ He's not here for the coffee ✩

by Hawkinsbabe (Multishippers)



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Artist Will Byers, M/M, barista mike wheeler, max knows whats up, prompts, the weird coffeeshop au no one asked for and a trope that i most likely messed up, title makes no sense lol, will literally just comes in to draw mike
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-18 13:03:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18700162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multishippers/pseuds/Hawkinsbabe
Summary: Prompt:Byler: "you found my sketchbook and it's full of drawings of you."↛ sent by anon via my tumblr





	✩ He's not here for the coffee ✩

You know, a summer job genuinely sounded fun to Mike. He’d work part time somewhere he’d like and get to flirt with a few girls here and there, which Dustin laughed his ass off when Mike said it out loud because Mike truly isn’t that social amidst the fact that he is a born leader and a pretty sweet talker. He really would’ve liked a job at the arcade, playing a few games between shifts or during his break, maybe a discount on the slushes and such. But he was too late. He arrived at Palace Arcade, only to see the manager remove the ‘ _Looking for Employees_ ’ sign and he felt his dream summer job slip right between the cracks of his fingers.

And so here he was now, at that trashy coffee shop, with coffee that tastes like burnt beans and death, barely enough clients to get decent tips between him and his coworker those days. “ _If only I hadn’t b-_ “ a sharp pain to his rib, head snapping to the side to look at the redhead at his side that elbowed him.

“Your boy is here again.” Max singsong, a smirk well displayed on her cherry lips as she looked to the ‘newcomer’.

And sure enough, she was right. His favorite client was here again, with two big notebooks this time and the same beat-up blue bag sound over his shoulder. The young man looked rather timid, one arm keeping his notebooks pressed against his chest while his free hand seemed to be nervously scratching at the dry paint on his fingers. Yet, although timid, he wore a smile that could only be described as the gates of heaven, making Mike’s heart skipped more than just a handful of beats.

Before he could even open his mouth to order, Mike was pressing the buttons on his register, looking up to the boy that looked at him with round eyes. By now Mike unconsciously knew his order by heart;

“Hot chocolate, no whip cream but a lot of Marshmallows. Did I get it right?” He asked, cocking up one of his eyebrows, a smile appearing on his face when he saw his favorite client nod sheepishly.

“Don’t you want my name?”

To this, the brunet only turned his screen to show that he already wrote it down onto the receipt; “ _Will_ ”, to which Will was taken aback, making Mike wonder for a few seconds whether or not it was creepy for him to know so much.

“You remembered my name?” Will murmured, more so to himself as he hugged his books closer to his chest. But Mike heard, not only that, he swore he saw a faint amount of blush warming their way onto those cheeks.

“Of course! I wouldn’t forget the name of someone as pretty” He choked on his words as he realized what had come out. Clearing his throat exaggeratedly, he corrected himself by saying: “as pretty awesome as you, dude.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Max whispered groan, followed by a loud bang that was the result of her hitting her head against the heavy machinery to grind the beans. Nonetheless and unlike Max, Will chuckled as he slipped his money on the counter and said;

“Ah, yeah thanks dude, you too bro.”

Only to have an embarrassed Mike that threw his head back in regret as soon as Will turned to walk to a table. Could anyone really blame him though for stumbling? The young man looked extra soft and pretty today. Will’s hair was messy and looked fluffy, which Mike could only assume it was due to the heavy winds outside. He was dressed in a big yellow knitted sweater eating him almost entirely, so big that the was loose enough to let the collar of a white t-shirt and grey joggers that were almost as loose as his sweater.

A pat on his back brought him back to earth, a teasing; “You’ll get it one day.” being whispered in his ear before he was hit with a back of marshmallow.

 

For once, Mike wasn’t all that happy to close up the store. Not that he wanted to actually stay in this old excuse of a coffee shop, hell he usually ran out of there like a free man. But he just had to basically ‘shoo away’ the three clients that braved the wind. Meaning he had to kick Will out too. Will that fell asleep on one of his gigantic notebook and that looked all too peaceful.

“Could you please stop moping around because prince charming is gone and start actually moping the floor. I don’t want to be late for my date.” Max whined out, stomping her feet like an actual kid.

“Just because you’re complaining I’ll take even more my time to mope around.” Mike threatened, though he actually picked up the pace. That was until his dirty mope hit something. His eyes dropped to the floor so he could see what he was about to kick out of his way, only for a loud gasp to escape his mouth. The mope was promptly dropped as he bent down to snatch the notebook that was open on two drawings. And while the scenery of the left one was absolutely breathtaking, he couldn’t help but concentrate on the right one. Because he recognized it. He could recognize himself, or at least his profile from many angles, many different expressions being beautiful sketched out onto the thick textured paper.

He found his fingers soon playing with the edge of the pages, even slipping past one with all the means to flip it and see what other beauties were hidden away, until he realized-

“Go on, I’m curious to see if he draw you more. God knows he isn’t here for the shitty hot cocoa or the marshmallows.” The redhead said as she continued peaking above his shoulder, something Mike hadn’t even noticed she did until now.

“That’d be ridiculous,” Mike said whispered, trying to convince himself more than anything else.

“Much like your ridiculous attempt at flirting. El told me you were bad, didn’t think you were just  **that**  bad.”

The brunet barely had time to react that the sketchbook was out of his hands and pages were flipped. With each page that was flipped, Max’s sounds somehow grew a little fonder, meanwhile, Mike was trying to keep his eyes in their sockets.

“Why aren’t I the one living the coffee shop Au.”

“Because you already have a girlfriend.”

“Hmphs.”

Mike’s eyes scanned the pages, each time becoming redder and more impressed because Will was observant. To the point that he even got the freckle, he has in his left eye, to the point that he got the small chip in one of his front teeth. Some sketches were messier than others, some were more chibi-ish or anime style but most of them were a realist type of sketches and threw him into a whole another dimension.

A loud banging startled both Max and him out of their curiosity voyage through the pages, both heads snapping towards the door where a panicked Will was, soaked by the rain that apparently decided to show its nose.

“Oh no,” Mike muttered.

“Oh yes,” Max almost yelled at the same time.

Yet neither of them made a move to the door and let the poor boy in, though it seemed anyway that he realized that his sketchbook had been opened and still was. It was as if Mike could hear the air getting stuck int he smaller man’s throat, as he watched him take a few steps back. Only then Mike started moving.

“No, wait!!” He screamed as if he would be heard, running to the door and struggling a fair amount to get it unlocked before he burst out onto the street. Will was fast. Too fast for Mike that struggled to even get a passing grade in PE back in high school, and the rain wasn’t helping, making his clothes stick to his skin and weighing every limb of his to the ground the more he tried to catch up.

“Will! Will please slow down.” He panted out as loud as he could “I have zero cardio and I’m dying over here.”

Will stopped, the chase finally coming to an end which Mike was more than grateful for seeing as he could finally catch up with the smaller brunet who’s hair was now sticking to the back of his neck.

“Will, I j-”

“Did you see them?” Will asked, still refusing to face Mike, arms straight by his side, making it all the more obvious that he was shaking.

“I just found your sketchbook I didn’t-” He tried, letting his hand rest upon the boy’s wet shoulder delicately, as if afraid of triggering a reaction out of him. Which it did, Will spun around so fast he found himself slightly dizzy, though it didn’t lessen the emphasis every word had.

“Did you see them?”

“Yes.” Will’s face fell at that moment, that much Mike could notice and if it was possible he even turned a few shades whiter, blood draining all too easily out of his face. If he paid enough attention, he would be able to see those lovely hazel eyes darken with what could be described as regret well mixed with sadness but he wasn’t paying enough attention because of the way his head ran through all the possibility of things he could say to prevent Will from running away again.

“Are you coming tomorrow?” Was the first thing to run out of his mouth when he heard the young man breath hitch as he whispered ‘I’ve got to go.’

“Wu-what?”

“Are you coming to the shop tomorrow?” He repeated the grip he didn’t notice he had on Will’s wrist lessening at the softness of his question. Except he wasn’t met with a response, no instead he was met with hazel eyes that stared right into his soul, asking for any kind of clues as to what was to come.

“We could go on a date? I-I could take you out on a date. At an actually good coffee shop? And we could talk or maybe if you're comfortable, show me more of your sketches? You’re really good, you know that?” He paused seeing the confusion seeping through his gaze, mouth slightly agape. His long fingers tightened into a fist at his side, nails digging slightly into the skin and truth be told he was nervous, maybe a little apprehensive like Will. He shook a little bit and he wasn’t exactly sure whether it was because of the rain or his nerves really getting to him.

“I think I might have read the situation wrong. I’m sorry- I think I’ve had a crush on you for a while now? And when I saw your sketchbook with a few drawings of me I thought ‘Oh maybe the pretty awesome dude likes me too’. Looking back that’s pretty narcist-”

“Okay.”

Admittedly, it did take a few seconds, seconds that borderline the minute mark, for Mike to realized Will agreed.

“Wait really?”

Mike’s eyes dropped to Will’s lips that were stretched into the brightest smile he had seen from him, making him replicate it a little too easily, nodding his head up and down as he processed it all, a few ‘Okay’ escaping him extirping a shaky giggle from the smaller boy.

“Come on now, let’s go back to the shop, I have a change of clothes you could use so you won’t be too cold and I’ll drive you home. Just ignore everything Max might tell you. She is a liar and never tells the truth.”

**Author's Note:**

> ✩ Kudos and Feedbacks are more than appreciated ✩  
> 


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